Record BCAC26 YLW conference demand: alternate hotels, Eldorado/Manteo effectively sold out

See Alternate Hotels tab at bit.ly/BCAC26 for solid options but don't delay. Memorial Cup starts very soon.

Our conference hotel, the Eldorado/Manteo Resort, has sold out! If you still need accommodation, you can try your luck calling direct for a cancellation; however, we'd like to suggest two alternate hotels – the Coast Capri Hotel and the Siesta Suites Family Motel. 

The Coast Hotels are one of our year-round, Canada and US network-wide Partner Hotels, offering year-round discounts to BCAC Supporters (and BCAC26 conference attendees). Visit the "Alternate Hotels" tab on the conference registration page for the Coast Capri-BCAC group discount code as well as other helpful information. Starting at $212 per night for a "Coast Queen" room from May 24-27th, 2026, with the BCAC Corporate Rate (excluding taxes and fees). It is 10 minutes by Uber from the conference venue.

The Siesta Suites Family Motel (no group discount) is another affordable option with the added benefit of being just 4 minutes by Uber or an amazing 23 minute lakeside walk from the Eldorado/Manteo conference hotel. With newly updates suites, the Siesta Suites Family Motel is a comfortable and convenient option. Starting at $199 per night for a Queen Room with Two Queen Beds from May 24-27th, 2026 (excluding taxes and fees).

Some Agenda Highlights

Dr. Suzanne Kearns, Founding Director, Waterloo Institute of Sustainable Aeronautics (WISA) and Associate Professor, Aviation, Faculty of Science & Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo, will be speaking about, "Aviation and Aerospace Trends and Issues" with a particular focus on sustainabilty and human resource development - two of the conference's four main themes.

Lisa Setlakwe, Assistant Deputy Minister, Transport Canada, will be in a fireside chat with Cathy Press, Board Chair, BCAC and CEO, Chinook Helicopters. We are extremely positive about such strong representation from Transport Canada's National Office and look forward to the fireside chat.

Dr. David Warnock-Smith, Associate Dean, Operations & Academics, and Professor of Aviation Management in the College of Business at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, the world's 800 pound gorilla of fully acredited aviation and aerospace. We are very much looking forward to his insights about higher education skills training for our industry. There is much to learn.

Barry Lapointe, Chair and co-Founder of KF Aerospace, Order of British Columbia (2015), Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame (2019), and Order of Canada (2024), will be the Keynote Speaker at the Signature Dinner in one of the hangars in the KF Centre for Excellence which is his baby. He is dusting off his legendary "God I Love Aviation" presention among other timely topics. It is the first time we've been handed a food options menu to select from that included which classic aircraft we'd like on display!

Make sure to take a look at the Summary Agenda, updated almost daily, under the Agenda Tab, Conference Information and Registration page, bit.ly/BCAC26 .

With the main conference hotel sold out, our attention has moved to selling out our 200 delegate slots. Make sure you are not disappointed. Only so much is possible at the last minute, as last year's sold out Silver Wings Industry and Scholarship Awards Celebration taught us!  

(Image/Hotel Eldorado)

AFFILIATE PROFILE

Advanced Warning and Vision of the Disruptive Future of Air Mobility (such as drones) in Canada

To gain vital insights into the disruptive impact Advanced Air Mobility is having on all transportation modes involved in Logistics, the BCAC strongly recommends attending this Chartered Institute of Transportation and Logistics (CILTNA-Pacific) event. The Institute is BCAC's latest Affiliate Member. As such, all BCAC Supporter members can attend at the members rate of $65 at Register for this event. This enjoyable event includes fine catering supplied by the Terminal City Club. The BCAC is sponsoring five Student Volunteers.

(Image/CILTNA-Pacific)

PERSPECTIVE AFFILIATE PROFILE

Unlocking Domestic & Defence Market Opportunities

Manufacturing Excellence Coalition (MEC) Forum - May 14th - New Westminster - Anvil Centre - Focus on Defence and Canadian Supply Chain. Warm-up for the BCAC26 YLW Conference marquee panel on Defense-Civilian synergies and opportunities for Canada. This half day event includes participation by EMC's CEO, JP. The EMC has become Canada's largest manufacturing association. 

This special half-day event brings Canadian manufacturers together with industry leaders, stakeholders, government, and solution providers to explore new domestic growth opportunities emerging from Canada’s increased investment in defence, infrastructure, housing, and mining, alongside trade, tariff, and supply chain shifts. Important new resources and funding programs will be announced. Register here.

(Image/EMC)

IAAE Canada’s Facilities, Operations & Airport Managers (F.O.A.M.) Conference is the IAAE's premier annual event, bringing together airport leaders, innovators and professionals from across the aviation sector. It is recognized as one of Canada’s leading forums for exchanging ideas and sharing expertise that advance the practice of airport management.

F.O.A.M. 2026 will be hosted in beautiful St. John’s, Newfoundland from May 4 to 6, 2026. Delegates can look forward to an engaging program featuring expert speakers, thought-provoking panels and interactive sessions designed to spark ideas and deliver practical solutions.

This year’s theme, Airport Best Practices: Learning from Experience. Building for Tomorrow, will feature a program that highlights practical lessons, proven approaches and real-world case studies from airports and industry professionals across Canada. Delegates will leave with strategies and actionable tools to strengthen safety, compliance and resilience.

A dynamic lineup of speakers and sessions has been curated to ensure the knowledge shared at F.O.A.M. continues to support airports of all sizes well beyond the conference.

Over 15 vendors will be in attendance, playing an important role in connecting Canada’s airport leaders and decision-makers with leading providers of products, services, and expertise relevant to airport operations.

This is a great opportunity to engage with key players and decision makers from across Canada in the airport industry. Full details of the conference, including agenda, programming, vendors and sponsors can be viewed on the event website here.

(Image/IAAE)

Last Call for Scholarship Applications!

Due by midnight (Pacific), April 30th.
 

For more information and our convenient online application form, please visit the BCAC Scholarships webpage here.

Attached to this Frequent Flyer is a summary of the $250,000 worth of scholarships being awarded. This is Canada's largest aviation and aerospace scholarship program.

Corporate Supporter Benefits

Did you know that BCAC Corporate Supporters are eligible to publish a "Supporter Profile" in the Frequent Flyer e-newsletter every two years? With a 54% open rate and 9600+ Supporters, it's one of the most powerful publicity channels for your organization in the country. Check out the "Supporter Profiles" guide, attached, for more information.

If you are attending the conference, make sure you get you Corporate Supporter Profile in to Adrienne for inclusion in Frequent Flyer.

(Photo/Kim Bellavance Photographe)

Is The Fuel Crisis A Catalyst For Europe’s SAF Supply?

Interesting European perspective on a hot Canadian topic. Note that North America currently leads 2030 supply forecasts - despite the inadequacy of those volumes to cost effectively drive the major changes required. Climate Sustainabilty is the focus of two practical "what you can do now" panels at the May 25-27 BCAC26 YLW Conference.

Europe’s sustainable aviation fuel industry might be at a turning point. Key environmental legislation for aviation is in the spotlight against the backdrop of the Iran conflict and the related fuel crisis, which could be a much-needed catalyst for the lagging industry.

Oil price spikes and fears of jet fuel shortages are causing not only short-term problems, such as reroutings and cancellations for European airlines, but they are also highlighting how dependent the region’s airlines are on fossil fuels from the Middle East.

The crisis could provide a unique catalyst for the fledgling SAF sector, helping to reduce that dependence and facilitating airlines move closer to their decarbonization goals. It could also enable airlines to meet their sustainability targets and make progress toward decarbonizing their operations.

“In the longer-term, everybody now understands that we need to invest in sustainable and local fuel solutions that reduce the dependence on fossil fuel and on the Middle East,” Alexander Küper, managing director of consultancy Blue Sky Aviation Fuel (BSAF) and a former vice president of renewable aviation at Neste, tells Aviation Week.

“Even people that would deny there is man-made climate change would agree we need to invest in SAF and local fuel production,” he says. “So I think that’s a very positive momentum.”

For airlines in the region, SAF supply—or more specifically, the lack of e-SAF supply—is a big concern. ReFuelEU Aviation SAF mandates came into force last year, requiring an initial 2% SAF uplift at all European airports. The percentage is set to rise in steps to 70% in 2030; e-SAF submandates start at 1.2% in 2030.

Production capacity at some biomass-based SAF facilities in Europe, such as Neste’s refinery in Rotterdam, Netherlands, is growing. The Finnish company said in its latest annual report that SAF production capability had reached 1.5 million tons per annum and would grow to 2.2 million in 2027. But widescale e-SAF production is far from a reality.

Major European aviation sustainability policy milestones are approaching in the coming months, including a review of the Emissions Trading System and Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (Corsia) assessment; a new EU Aviation Strategy set to be released in the third quarter; the Sustainable Transport Investment Plan (STIP), which should focus heavily on SAF ramp-up; and a planned review of ReFuelEU Aviation next year. These could provide some clarity on how Europe plans to better support the SAF sector

While European airlines represented by Airlines For Europe (A4E) last year voiced concerns about the 2030 target of 6%, they now acknowledge that amount should be achievable—at a price (AW&ST April 7-20, 2025, p. 57). But they say the real problem for the sector is the lack of progress on e-SAF production.

At its annual summit in Brussels in March, A4E said the mandates imposing the use of e-SAF should be delayed because not enough projects to produce the e-fuels have been approved for investment, which would allow the necessary volumes to be available by 2030.

“The 2030 e-SAF submandate must be postponed until e-SAF is sufficiently available and affordable and the regulatory framework is redesigned to support diverse, affordable production pathways,” A4E said.

“The reality is, it won’t be there, and you can see it won’t be there,” EasyJet CEO Kenton Jarvis said at the event. “You would have to have multiple plants that had reached an investment decision. They need to be built, then production needs to be scaled up, and then they need to get distribution. So you can tell today that it will not happen by 2030.”

The association said projects that had passed the final investment decision (FID) stage account for just 0.71% of the 600 kilotons of e-SAF that would be needed in 2030 to meet the target. This shortage could lead to penalties of €7-9 billion ($8.2-11 billion) and increase ticket prices and costs for airlines, resulting in a lose-lose scenario.

Even European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism Apostolos Tzitzikostas acknowledged at the event that SAF remains expensive. “Supply is still limited, and the business case, if we want to be very honest, remains difficult,” Tzitzikostas said. However, he stressed that the commission remains fully committed to both the overall SAF and e-SAF mandates.

As airlines in Europe call for SAF targets to be pushed back, other voices in the industry note that changing the mandates would undermine the stability and investment certainty they were designed to provide for potential investors.

Unsurprisingly, fuel producers see the mandates as a vital scaffolding on which to build their nascent projects.

In reaction to the A4E calls, Arcadia eFuels CEO Amy Hebert said: “Without the ReFuel-EU e-SAF submandate, there will be no e-SAF market and no pathway to lower fuel costs. Early cost reduction in e-SAF is driven by policy, not scale. The certainty provided by ReFuelEU is single-handedly what allows us to access public support, secure offtake agreements and move projects forward. Without that, the development and production of e-SAF are at great risk of not materializing.”

For Küper, pushing back mandates would undermine them completely. “The good thing about a mandate is it’s stable; you can rely on it,” Küper said.

“If you take that away, the whole thing falls apart,” he added. “I think it can really kill the industry. I don’t think airlines are doing themselves any favors by saying the mandate should be removed.”

However, he recognizes that with no projects for e-SAF at FID in Europe, some flexibility in the system might be required.

“This is where the system is broken,” Küper said. “There is not enough traction there, and if there isn’t any e-SAF production by 2027, at some point we will have to discuss the mandate, such as by adding flexibility–whatever you don’t do in 2030 you do in 2032, or replace it by advanced biofuels. There’ll need to be some mechanism, because you can’t urge people to buy something that isn’t there.” Tax credits could also be a “game changer,” Küper added.

While short-term solutions to support the industry through the current fuel crisis are understandably monopolizing attention, Küper said the shock will prove to be a longer-term driver for SAF activities in Europe.

“If you’re a SAF producer, it’s very difficult now to talk to people who are panicking about whether they will have enough fuel,” he said. “But once that gets solved, I think everybody will double their efforts in looking at alternatives and how to ramp up and support the buildup of SAF.”

(Source: Aviation Week & Space Technology, Helen Massy-Beresford. Photo/ Pasi Kemmo, Neste)